Question 1191462: Topics In Contemporary Math
Permutations and Combinations
QUESTION 10
The 2015 Tour de France had 198 cyclists enter. How many top three finishes were possible?
Answer by math_tutor2020(3817)   (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
There are 198 choices for first place, 197 for second, and 196 for third. We count down until we fill all three slots.
Then we multiply those values.
198*197*196 = 7,645,176
You could use the nPr permutation formula, but make sure to simplify and cancel out the factorial terms. If you were to use a calculator with a built in nPr function, then it might signal an error because factorials get really big even for relatively small values of n. It's perhaps best to stick to the first method mentioned.
Answer: 7,645,176
This number is a little over 7.6 million.
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